The results are in from our “Pay it Forward” contest honoring Black History Month. We invited student organizations from colleges around the country to make a 2-minute video with fellow students and tell us how they’ve paid it forward to the Black community.

After tallying up the scores, we’re excited to announce that the winners are:

Daughters of the Collective supports young African American females by providing mentorship and exposure to an array of educational, cultural and artistic opportunities. Congratulations to Daughters of the Collective. We’re proud to showcase the work that you’re doing in the community - it’s truly inspiring and exemplary of the values we celebrate during Black History Month.

We’d like to thank all of the student organizations that participated. The judges found it difficult to select just one submission and were very impressed with the amazing work that was showcased in the videos. We hope you all will continue to work hard to impact the world and pay it forward through acts of service even after Black History Month.

Now in its 7th year, the Google Online Marketing Challenge is a yearly global online marketing competition for students from higher education institutions around the world. Student teams develop and run a successful online advertising campaign using Google AdWords and Google+ for a real business or non-profit organization, using US$250 budget provided by Google. Winning teams are selected by Googlers and an independent Panel of Academics, based on the success of their campaign.

Apart from gaining hands-on digital marketing experience, students compete for some great prizes:

The global winners and their professor win a seven-day trip to San Francisco, including one day at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California, to meet Googlers from the AdWords, University Programs and Marketing teams.

The global winners also receive computing devices along with other Google products.

Digital devices for all global and regional winners across all categories including their mentoring professors.

The opportunity to win donations worth a total of $30,000 for the non-profit partners.

Over 65,000 students from almost 100 countries have participated in past years.

In order for student teams to participate in the competition, they first need to have a professor register. Professors can register from February 26th until May 14th. Please note that student registration will open March 5th.

The Global winning team comes from the University of the Philippines in the Philippines. The team worked with Sun Cruises Philippines, which specializes in providing ferry as well as tour services to Corregidor Island.

Cross-posted from the Google Research BlogIn September 2013, Google announced joining forces with edX to contribute to their open source platform, Open edX. Since then we’ve been working together to expand this open education ecosystem. We’re pleased to announce our first online course built using Open edX. Making Sense of Data showcases the collaborative technology of Google and edX using cbX to run Open edX courses on Google App Engine.

The world is filled with lots of information; learning to make sense of it all helps us to gain perspective and make decisions. We’re pleased to share tools and techniques to structure, visualize, and analyze information in our latest self-paced, online course: Making Sense of Data.

Making Sense of Data is intended for anybody who works with data on a daily basis, such as students, teachers, journalists, and small business owners, and who wants to learn more about how to apply that information to practical problems. Participants will learn about the data process, create and use Fusion Tables (an experimental tool), and look for patterns and relationships in data. Knowledge of statistics or experience with programming is not required.

Like past courses, participants engage with course material through a combination of video and text lessons, activities, and projects. In this course, we will also introduce some new features that help create a more engaging participant experience. For example, participants will be able to access instant hangouts and live chats from the course web page for quick help or for direct feedback. As with all of our MOOCs, you’ll learn from Google experts and collaborate with participants worldwide. You’ll also have the opportunity to complete a final project and apply the skills you’ve learned to earn a certificate.

Making Sense of Data runs from March 18 - April 4, 2014. Visit g.co/datasense to learn more and register today. We look forward to seeing you make sense of all the information out there!

In last month’s first AdMob Student App Challenge design jam at Virginia Tech, the winning team came up with a new way to choose classes both around major and the classes that friends are taking. The Class with Friends app has a clear purpose, and was well-thought out and addressed the many issues that an app such as this is presented with. Come and meet the team:

Benjamin Zichettello: Majoring in Aerospace Engineering, Ben is also working on a tech start-up called ProjectAMPLE in addition to his studies. ProjectAMPLE’s goal is to develop innovative knowledge management applications to help organize the vast amount of information in the modern era. With Class with Friends, he’s hoping to mitigate the boring and problematic registration process at most schools.

Chris Lai: Chris is somewhat of a hackathon veteran, having participated in events at University of Michigan and Yale. Chris has also been involved with an Austin start-up as a front-end developer, and has been passionate about computer science since high school. He’s looking forward to continuing to refine his developing skills through this contest, as well as learning how to best integrate AdMob into their app.

Xikai Zhao: While currently studying mechanical engineering, Xikai has always wanted to build a website or app, and thought this contest presented a good opportunity to refine both skills and learn more about building an app business. At a large school like Virginia Tech, registering for classes can be a painful ordeal, hence the idea for the app. In the app, students will know who else is taking the same class with them, adding a social layer for when they make their semester choices.

Craig Borklund: Craig has been thinking about creating a way to connect with potential classmates outside the normal social outlets, and had actually experimented with an app registration solution. Currently studying Computer Science and German, Craig mentioned that the design jam was instrumental in them utilizing a web visualization app to better represent what they were going for, and to show in a clear way what separated their idea from their other apps out there. By doing that, it also allowed the group to have a visual of where their ads would best be placed to ensure a solid user experience.

Remember, all participating teams will need to submit their app by 31 March 2014. Follow AdMob on G+ to stay up to date with all Challenge updates.

Ever wondered what it is like to work as an SMB Account Strategist in Google EMEA?Adam Devlin is an SMB Account Strategist for the UK and Ireland market in Google Dublin. Adam will be taking part in our ‘Day in the Life of an SMB Account Strategist’ Hangout on Air on March 13th. You can find out more information about the Hangout and how you can get involved at the end of this post.

1. Introduce Yourself!
Hello! Adam here from the SMB Sales Team, for the UK and Ireland market. I’ve been working in Google Dublin for just over 2 years now, enjoying the challenges of meeting targets and also regularly getting involved with the University Programmes Team.

2. What's the coolest thing about your job?
Learning how to use all the features AdWords has to offer; it brings you back to your school days where you learned your maths times tables - you either liked it or you didn’t! That’s where I come in - getting in touch with clients and assisting them with their advertising goals, and demonstrating the various ways they can use their campaigns to target potential customers; at the right place & time, every time.

Outside of my core role, I also get involved in a variety of projects that are fun and beneficial to our Dublin Googler community e.g. team interview panels, SilverSurferTowns, university mentoring & culture clubs. This is one of the best aspects of a career at Google - there is scope for disruption, creativity and a view to looking forward. In Dublin, we are asking ourselves “agus anois?” - which is Irish Gaelic for “what next?”, i.e. “what can we do to improve & change this year?” Time will tell...3. How did you get here?
I graduated from University with different areas of work experience under my belt. I always felt that this mix was important for me. University gave me a thirst for discipline & broadening my perspectives, and working helped develop my social & tacit knowledge in dealing quickly with certain situations e.g. dealing with difficult customers, contributing at team meetings etc.

So, I was working in an office during Summer 2011 when I saw a job posting online for a HR Operations role. I did the interviews & was told I got the job. As it was a contract position, I only found out it was for Google a few weeks before I started!

Being target-driven & restless, I wanted to explore other opportunities here at Google. Fast-forward 14 months and I had applied & secured a permanent position within the new and growing SMB Sales Team.

4. What makes you Googley?
I think it’s my creative side. I study Acting and Voice training part-time, and am also involved in different community projects e.g. Leaving Cert workshops, university mentoring & talks, organising team events. This gives me the high-energy I need to perform well, and keeps me connected with people outside the Google World.

As well as this, I love what I do - and from what I’ve learned so far, that is a fundamental part of succeeding in your goals & ambitions.

The University Programmes Team EMEA proudly presents ‘Day in the Life of an SMB Account Strategist’ Hangout on Air on 13th March 2014 from 14:30 - 15:30 GMT. You can find out more information here; don’t forget to click attending!

We're now a few months into the The AdMob Student App Challenge. By now many of you have probably made some headway on your app, but aren't completely sure about how you want to integrate AdMob. Today we'll give you some tips on best practices for integration.

In general, ad placement should work with the flow of your app. Banners can be placed at the bottom of a screen containing another view, as elements placed in a ListView (as long as you don't show more than one banner on screen at once!) and other places that work with the current layout of the screen.

On the other hand, interstitials should be placed at a natural break in your flow from screen to screen - for example, in between game levels. You can see more examples of ad integration in our Ad Catalog app.

If you want to track the different lifecycle events of an AdView object, you can use an AdListener. This allows you to not only track, but take action in onAdOpened(), onAdClosed() and other methods. You can see an example of an AdListener in the Ad Catalog app, and the basic AdListener behavior in this sample app.

Another fun thing to do is create a Custom Event. Custom Events allow you to serve your own ads in the ad space. For example, if you know your user's birthday, you could deliver a Happy Birthday message instead of an ad on that day. Custom Events give you a lot of flexibility with your ad space, and we're excited to see how you use them.

For additional controls, such as location and ad color, check out our docs. And if you have any SDK-related questions, you can ask other AdMob developers (and me!) for help on our forum.

Remember, using AdMob is a requirement to submit your app for the student challenge. We're looking forward to your submissions, and hope to see some innovative uses of the AdMob SDK!

Google attends and supports many global conferences that celebrate diverse backgrounds and perspectives in the workplace. In today's post, learn more about Google on the ground at the 2013 oSTEM National Conference.

At the end of October, Google had the honor of hosting the 2013 oSTEM National Conference in our New York Offices. oSTEM stands for “out in science, technology, engineering and mathematics” and represents an organization dedicated to the community to identify, address, and advocate for the needs of LGBTQA students in STEM fields across the country. Each year the organization invites members to join together to celebrate their accomplishments through mentorship connections, networking opportunities and professional/leadership development. This is the third year the organization has hosted a conference, and it more than tripled its original size with 150 students joining us in our Google NYC office.

Throughout the two day conference, there were several inspirational speakers who all make a difference as an LGBTQA in their company and community. The attendees had a variety of breakout session topics that they could choose from, such as “Stand Up to Stand Out in the Job Market”, “How To Succeed In Academia While Being Out” and two Google led sessions on “Using the Cloud to make your life easier” and an Interview Workshop. “It was really inspiring to see the energy and enthusiasm in the room. There’s momentum around the LGBT movement -- we’ve struck a chord with the world -- because this is the human rights issue of our generation. So it’s cool to see students empowered, excited, and ready to take on some of the world’s biggest challenges” said Julio Alvarez, a Product Marketing Manager on the Google Drive team.

Working with oSTEM is one of the many ways that Googlers are involved in supporting the LGBT community. From volunteering with local organizations that support LGBTQ youth to 1,300-person-strong contingent at San Francisco Pride, Google’s LGBTQ community and their allies make up the Gayglers. What’s it like to be part of the Gaygler community? Ian Fette a Software Engineering Manager on the Gmail team who has volunteered at the past two oSTEM conferences explains that “It’s comforting to know that I’m not alone. It’s amazing how having a group like the Gayglers can elevate the visibility within Google of issues that affect our community, and how responsive our company has been both in setting internal policies and benefits and in lobbying for change externally as well. Google’s a great place to be.”

oSTEM’s conference represents a great opportunity for students to network, and think about the next step in their careers. For LGBTQ students, this comes with some additional concerns that others may not have to worry about. Emma Persky, a Software Engineer on Google Search, has been heavily involved with oSTEM for the past two years and offers a little advice for students contemplating a move into the tech industry - “Look carefully at companies before you choose to join one. Understand their approach to LGBTQ issues from a practical perspective (health insurance coverage for partners, same sex adoption time off, etc), a social perspective, is there an employee resource group are they active, and a policy perspective, what are their nondiscrimination policies like. It’s always OK to ask your recruiter these things.”

As a company, we take the areas that Emma raised very seriously. In December we were very proud that the Human Rights Campaign agreed by awarding Google a 100% on it’s Corporate Equality Index, a score we’ve received every year since 2007.

Black History Month is a time for celebrating and honoring important events and people in the Black community. We know there are so many college students out there impacting the Black community and we'd like to capture your experience. To honor Black History Month, make a 2-minute video with some of your fellow students and tell us how you're paying it forward to the Black community. We'll post your stories, and you could win $500 for your campus organization.

Contest overview
We’re inviting student organizations recognized and approved by their college or university (US based) to produce a two-minute YouTube video that showcases how they have positively impacted the Black community. We’re seeking organizations that have offered some sort of service or philanthropic support such as volunteering at an after school program, fundraising for an initiative, etc. The video should include what the student organization is, the school the organization is from, what business/group/individual effort or initiative it has supported and how.

How to enter

Record a two-minute video showcasing how your organization has positively impacted the Black community.

Upload the video to YouTube and ensure it is public so that the judges may view it.

Post the YouTube video to Google+ using the hashtag #BHMgooglechallenge

Guidelines

The deadline to submit completed applications is February 21st, 2014 at 11:59pm PST.

Applications should include a completed entry form, YouTube video and post on Google+ using the hashtag #BHMgooglechallenge.

Videos should be no longer than two minutes.

Ensure your video is public so that the judges may review it.

For additional information on what qualifies as “impacting the Black community” see the FAQ below.

Judging criteria

Compliance with guidelines: 20%

Creativity: 30%

Impact of the work done: 50%

Submissions will be judged on creativity, ability to demonstrate impact and compliance with the contest rules. Contest judges are Charles Pratt (Software Engineer and “Googler in Residence” at Howard University), Lacy Caruthers (Principal of the Google.Org team) and Malik Ducard (Content Partnerships Director for YouTube). The deadline to submit a video entry is February 21st, 2014 at 11:59pm PST.

Prize
The winning organization will be announced February 28th, 2014. The winning organization will have its video showcased on our Google Student Blog and win $500 .

Key Dates:

Submissions due February 21st, 2014 at 11:59pm PST

Winner announced Feb 28th, 2014 on Google Students blog

Students participating in the Black Googler Network (BGN) Chicago Event in 2013

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Google hosting this contest?
We're proud of the contributions that students are making to the Black community and beyond. We figured we'd put our YouTube and G+ products to good use by capturing some amazing stories as we celebrate Black History Month.

Who can participate in this contest?
This contest is designed for student-run organizations at colleges and universities in the United States. Entries must be submitted by a student-run organization. Submissions from individuals about personal service will not be accepted for this contest. Participating student organizations must be approved and recognized by their college or university.

Are international students/colleges allowed to participate in the contest?
International students attending a college in the United States and involved in a club or organization that is participating in the contest are welcome to participate. Students and student organizations at colleges and universities outside of the United States are not eligible for this contest.

Our organization includes students from another school, can we participate?
Yes, please just be sure to specify this on your entry form and note that you will be treated as one organization.

How will the $500 prize be awarded?
The prize will be awarded to a collective campus organization, not an individual. The money will be paid via check to the organization directly from Google.

Our organization is receiving funding/sponsorships from another company, can we participate?
Yes, student organizations receiving funding from other companies are eligible to participate.

What is considered “impacting the Black community”?
We’re seeking organizations that have offered some sort of service or philanthropic support such as volunteering at an after school program, fundraised for an initiative, etc. Hosting events such as parties, are not considered philanthropic and won’t be considered for this contest.

Organizations do not have to be limited to supporting the Black community exclusively. For example, volunteering at a local Boys and Girls club with a large number of Black students, or coding for a Black owned business, are examples of impacting the Black community.

What should be covered in the two minute video?
Each video should cover the following:

Name of student organization being represented.

Name of school the organization is a part of.

Name of company, club, organization, initiative, entity, etc. the organization supported and the impact that resulted from that support.

When are submissions due and when will we find out who won?
Submissions are due February 21st at 11:59pm PST. The winners will be announced February 28th on the Google Students blog.

Is there a limit to the number of entries we can submit?
Yes, please submit one entry per organization at your university.

If you have additional questions that have not been addressed in the FAQ, please email students@google.com.

"We need more kids falling in love with science and math.” That's what Larry Page said at last year's I/O, and it's a feeling shared by all of us. We want to inspire young people around the world not just to use technology, but to create it. Unfortunately, many kids don’t have access to either the education or encouragement they need to pursue computer science. So five years ago we created the Google RISE (Roots in Science and Engineering) Awards, which provide funding to organizations around the world that engage girls and underrepresented students in extracurricular computer science programs.

This year, the RISE Awards are providing $1.5 million to 42 organizations in 19 countries that provide students with the resources they need to succeed in the field. For example, Generating Genius in the U.K. provides after-school computer science programs and mentoring to prepare high-achieving students from disadvantaged communities for admission into top universities. Another awardee, North Carolina-based STARS Computer Corps, helps schools in low-income communities gain access to computing resources for their students to use. Visit our site for a full list of our RISE Award recipients.

Created in 2007, the Children’s University Foundation has been carrying out educational programs for more than 20,000 children aged 6-13. Click on the photo to learn more about this and other RISE Awardees.

This year we’re also expanding the program with the RISE Partnership Awards. These awards aim to encourage collaboration across organizations in pursuit of a shared goal of increasing global participation in computer science. For example, more than 5,000 girls in sub-Saharan Africa will learn computer science as a result of a partnership between the Harlem based program ELITE and the WAAW Foundation in Nigeria.

We’re proud to help these organizations inspire the next generation of computer scientists.

Recently, we hosted two Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship events in our Moscow and St. Petersburg offices. More than 80 Russian female computer science students joined us to learn about local technical projects, find out more about Dr. Anita Borg, hear from scholarship alumni and network with Googlers.

We asked three scholarship alumni to tell us about their Anita Borg experience:

1. Tell us a bit about yourselves…

Anna: I’m a graduate from the department of Mechanics & Mathematics at Novosibirsk State University. I currently work at the Institute of Computational Technologies, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences where I do mathematical modeling and optimization methods for solving inverse problems. I’m also preparing my Ph.D. thesis.

Jelena: I graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in Bioinformatics. I currently work analyzing biological data.

Anastasia: I’m from Moscow where I graduated from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI). Before graduation, I started working at the Institute for System Programming at the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISP RAS) where I worked on projects to test systems for document processing and develop tools for automatic testing of Internet protocols.

2. How did you find out about the scholarship and what motivated you to apply?

Anna: I found out about the scholarship through my university when it launched in Russia in 2008. My friends told me it sounded like something I should do so I applied. I also read Anita Borg’s biography and was inspired by her story to pursue a career in technology.

Jelena: I saw the scholarship advertised on a poster prior to starting my degree. I thought I matched the profile and was motivated by the competition aspect I had previously enjoyed so much when I participated in my school olympiads. Two years later, I became a finalist.

Anastasia: I first heard about the scholarship when a Googler came to give a lecture at the ISP RAS. As a Ph.D. student at the time, my interest immediately peaked, though my first thought was that I wasn’t good enough to apply. After deliberating, I decided to go for it anyway for the experience.

3. In what way has the scholarship had an impact on you and your future in technology?

Anna: I was a scholarship finalist three times. The achievement gave me the confidence to go on and win other competitions and participate in other tech conferences across the world.

Jelena: Being a finalist gave me confidence in my abilities and motivated me to work harder, especially on my programming. The scholarship also made me a stronger leader. I'm currently the co-chair of a committee which promotes biotechnology and explains to young scientists how to build a successful career after graduation.

Anastasia: Before the scholarship, I wasn’t confident enough in my skills. Nowadays, there are still times when I feel this way, but after meeting other girls like me at the retreat, I know that I’m not alone.

4. What was the highlight of the scholarships retreat for you?

Anna: I was continuously inspired by examples of new research and modern approaches to help maximise engineers’ time as well as the informal atmosphere which encouraged communication. The retreat gave me the motivation to work even harder in my degree.

Jelena: Meeting so many inspiring people. Another highlight was the poster session where I was able to discover the different technological problems addressed at various universities across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Anastasia: Meeting so many talented women from different countries and cultures. Together we had various interesting discussions about different approaches to education, industry and life as a whole.

5. Any advice for Russian students who are keen to become our next Anita Borg scholars?

Anna: Don't be afraid and don't underestimate yourself! Remember, other applicants like you received the scholarship. Work hard for what you want and don’t let social prejudices get in the way.

Jelena: Be great, passionate and sincere. Get involved in interesting projects at university, study hard and make sure to highlight your achievements in your CV.

Anastasia: During the application process, I recommend using diagrams, tables and pictures in your essays to better illustrate your ideas. Also make sure to reread your essays a few times, it might also help to get a second opinion on it from a friend or family member. Finally, even if you don’t win this time, don’t despair, try again!